For the First Time Ever! (Again!)

So by now, most "Star Wars" fans out there will have heard that this September, George Lucas will be releasing the original "Star Wars Trilogy" on DVD in it's unaltered form. This, according to most reports, after succumbing to the tremendous pressure put upon him to do so. Now the only pressure I can see is that it's been a year since Episode III was released, the coffers are running a bit light so it was time for a refill. Now I'm a self-professed Star Wars geek. I collected the various paraphenilia as a kid and have boxes of stuff tucked away in my closets and in my parents basement. Later in college, I guess I outgrew that phase and came to enjoy the movies in a different manner. I guess you could call it nostalgia for my childhood. After all, these were movies I grew up with. For years, I only had my VHS copies which had been watched over and over and over again. When the announcement came out that the movies would be released on DVD, I was ecstatic.

Like many fans, I was disappointed that they were releasing the original movies in their special edition format. It was a bit sad, but at least we would now have the movies on DVD. The movies were released in box set and you had to purchase all three. Now for a fan like me that was okay, but what about the folks who aren't such big fans? They were stuck shelling out $50 or $60 for the set. Ah well, they'd at least have the definitive edition right? Cut to a year later. Lucasfilm releases a second set with just the three movies for less than $30! Now how do all those folks who shelled out twice as much money feel? Pretty rotten? Cheated? You betcha. Now no one probably went out to purchase the new set right? Not exactly. Those who didn't shell out money the first time went out and got it. And so did the completists; they're the ones who can't let a single item with the Star Wars logo on it get past them. This includes everything from boxer shorts to coffee filters.

Now word is again filtering out that the original movies will be released in their original formats this September. Those who love the movies, who grew up watching it, who can quote from the film at the drop of a hat are once again faced with the issue of paying another $30 for the movies. Can you put a price on your childhood? Is it worth spending the money to get the movie we grew up with? Some would argue that it isn't worth the money, others would argue to the contrary. Whatever the side, the fact is that someone must have done the analysis and discovered that no matter what, it's a winning proposition.

And it's not just "Star Wars", but almost every movie that is released on DVD is generally either released in several formats at the same time, or a new edition is released some months later. Why does Hollywood do this? Why make us double dip for movies they know we are going to buy? I don't need ten different versions of the same movie! Maybe eight versions but certainly not ten! Again, the reason for it must definitely be some sort of economic analysis. As an economics graduate, I have to believe that someone did a supply and demand curve analysis and found that they can make a profit on the new release DVD.

Look at the movies out there and you'll see it all the time. "Lord of the Rings", "Gladiator", "Apocalypse Now", "Blade Runner" and on and on and on. Pretty soon it will be that no one remembers what version of the movie they saw in the theatres because they will constantly be bombarded with the director's cut, the anniversary cut, the producer's cut, the actor's cut, the gaffer's cut. What about my cut?... of the profits that is.